By Julia Cheever<\/strong><\/p>\n April 30, 2008<\/p>\n A retired Presbyterian minister from San Rafael said Tuesday she is “so grateful” the highest court of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. overturned a lower court’s rebuke of her performance of same-sex weddings.<\/p>\n But the Rev. Jane Spahr, 65, said she felt “deep concern” that the court, known as the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, didn’t sanction same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n “I want the church to be as welcoming as possible,” Spahr said.<\/p>\n The commission, at the Presbyterian Church’s headquarters in Louisville, Ky., issued the ruling Monday in a disciplinary proceeding initiated against Spahr for officiating at two lesbian weddings in Rochester, N.Y., in 2004 and Jenner in 2005.<\/p>\n The judicial panel said Spahr couldn’t be rebuked because the church’s constitution doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages and the two lesbian ceremonies therefore did not celebrate marriages.<\/p>\n Instead, the panel said, the ceremonies blessed same-sex unions, which the 2.3 million member church has allowed since 1991.<\/p>\n The commission asserted that the church constitution requires marriage to be between a man and a woman and does not recognize gay and lesbian unions as marriages.<\/p>\n The panel wrote, “A same-sex ceremony is not and cannot be a marriage.”<\/p>\n Stephen Taber, a lawyer for a presbytery committee that initiated the disciplinary proceedings, said the ruling provides “a flat-out determination” that the church constitution does not recognize same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n Taber said, “We now have a decision that constitutes an authoritative interpretation” of the church constitution.<\/p>\n The attorney said the commission’s reversal of the rebuke was “a semantic decision based on terminology and not on substance.”<\/p>\n But he said that while the prosecution committee was concerned about an alleged violation of church rules, “as a practical matter, nobody is out to ‘get’ Janie Spahr.”<\/p>\n Taber said, “A number of us have a great deal of admiration for her. She is a wonderful person and has conducted a wonderful ministry.”<\/p>\n The proceedings were initiated by a committee of the local Presbytery of the Redwoods, which covers northern coastal California from Marin County to the Oregon border. A presbytery commission cleared her of misconduct, but a regional synod reversed that finding and ordered a rebuke.<\/p>\n Spahr then appealed to the general assembly commission.<\/p>\n Spahr was affiliated with anationwide Presbyterian ministry group called That All May Freely Serve, which ministers primarily to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.<\/p>\n She said although she retired in August, she plans to continue counseling both homosexual and heterosexual couples and officiate at their weddings.<\/p>\n “I will continue to honor my calling to perform marriages for all couples who love one another and are committed to one another,” Spahr said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Julia Cheever April 30, 2008 A retired Presbyterian minister from San Rafael said Tuesday she is “so grateful” the highest court of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. overturned a lower court’s rebuke of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6413,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,222],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n